China's Chang'e 5 is bringing back the first moon rocks in 44 years

Chang'e 5 is on the last leg of its mission on the moon. After a visit to the lunar surface lasting less than 48 hours, it is back in orbit around the moon and ready to bring its samples home so that scientists on Earth can analyse them. The spacecraft consists of an orbiter, re-entry capsule, a lander and ascent stage, and launched on 23 November aboard a Long March 5 rocket. It landed on the moon on 1 December. It is China's first sample return mission, making the nation only the third – after the US and the Soviet Union – to bring back rocks and dust from the moon.